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[zero shift]

Make: Ford
Model: Focus
Year: 2000
Edition: SE

So I have been driving my car and it has been presenting some problems. While driving it it will stutter at times. When I was waiting at a stop light this morning the car turned off. The radio and electricity was still working fine, but the car shut off. I put the car back into drive and started it up again and it was fine. However, it died again. I then repeated and it was fine until I got to work. It did this the day before to.

I talked to the guy at Autozone and he said he had a similar problem with his car and it was the fuel regulator inside the fuel filter. So I took my car into the repair shop so they could look into it. They said they ran the machine through it, cleaned it, and drove it around and found nothing wrong with it. I told them that the issues only occurs sometime when the car is driven around for around fifteen minutes. They stated that they'll be driving it again in the morning to test it out.

Anyway, does anyone on here know what the problem with my car could be?

 

[Human Resources]

I used to have a 2000 ford focus, same problem. It was the fuel pump.

 

[Giant Robot]

My friend had the same exact problem while on a cross country road trip. Replace the fuel pump.

The reason why the repair shop didn't find the problems you had was because they didn't drive it long enough and/or at highway speeds long enough.

 

[zero shift]

Is there a way they can directly test the fuel pump to see if it is okay?

 

[BigJonsson]

Sounds similar to the 98 Altima I used to drive, never got the problem figured out because the car was near the end of it's life anyway

Had to switch to neutral at red lights and gently rev the engine or it would die

 

[Baka Sempai]

As others have said, is either the fuel pump of the fuel filter.
Change the fuel filter first since is WAY cheaper, then if the issue persists, is definitely the pump.

 

[zero shift]

As others have said, is either the fuel pump of the fuel filter.
Change the fuel filter first since is WAY cheaper, then if the issue persists, is definitely the pump.

So you'd say it HAS to be one of those two things?

 

[Philia]

Great timing of this thread. I got to ask with my '96 Toyota Camry, I have knocking sounds from when I turn. Power steering fluid was previously low, we've refilled it to the appropriate levels.

 

[MilkBeard]

Great timing of this thread. I got to ask with my '96 Toyota Camry, I have knocking sounds from when I turn. Power steering fluid was previously low, we've refilled it to the appropriate levels.

CV joints (front axles). Easy way to tell is, you look underneath the car, up where the wheel connects to the axle. There is a rubber boot. It will be torn, leaking. But a mechanic will probably be able to diagnose it without even looking.

EDIT:

http://www.samarins.com/glossary/cv_joint.html

A most common symptom of a badly-worn outer CV joint is a clicking or popping noise when turning. Usually the noise gets louder when accelerating in turns. In worst cases, a badly-worn outer CV joint can even disintegrate while driving.

 

[danowat]

Could be a ton of things (plugs, HT leads, fuel pump, fuel filter, air filter), but first you need to narrow it down to one of two issues,is it fuel or electrical related.

 

[Subpar Scrub]

Check your fuel supply. Shouldn't be your coils, leads or plugs but won't hurt to check/throw them on a scantool, as they can cause your engine to miss. Might be what the "stuttering" you describe is.

 

[zero shift]

Could be a ton of things (plugs, HT leads, fuel pump, fuel filter, air filter), but first you need to narrow it down to one of two issues,is it fuel or electrical related.

It has to be fuel. The electrical doesn't go out when it dies.

 

[danowat]

It has to be fuel. The electrical doesn't go out when it dies.

The electrics to the interior being on means nothing, could still have an electrical break in the ignition system or the fuel pump.

 

[David Incorporated Esq.]

Could be ignition but that tends to show faults under load, not idle. Fuel delivery would be more likely but it could be so many things on this information.

 

[zero shift]

Well I told the mechanic to look at the fuel pump and fuel filter. I will see what they say.

 

[Tigress]

Make: Ford
Model: Focus
Year: 2000
Edition: SE

So I have been driving my car and it has been presenting some problems. While driving it it will stutter at times. When I was waiting at a stop light this morning the car turned off. The radio and electricity was still working fine, but the car shut off. I put the car back into drive and started it up again and it was fine. However, it died again. I then repeated and it was fine until I got to work. It did this the day before to.

I talked to the guy at Autozone and he said he had a similar problem with his car and it was the fuel regulator inside the fuel filter. So I took my car into the repair shop so they could look into it. They said they ran the machine through it, cleaned it, and drove it around and found nothing wrong with it. I told them that the issues only occurs sometime when the car is driven around for around fifteen minutes. They stated that they'll be driving it again in the morning to test it out.

Anyway, does anyone on here know what the problem with my car could be?

I had a car that would randomly stall on me and not start and sometimes not start. It wasn't consistent and of course when my dad who was a mechanic looked at it it would act fine. Finally did it when he was in the car, turned out to be the fuel relay.

Or it maybe some other electrical item (they tend to produce random problems and are hard to diagnose when it's not doing it as they physically look fine). I had another car that would also have random problems stalling (while driving) and would have issues every three months. Annoying thing is at least three times we found something it could be, it would act fine for a few months, then do it again. Turned out an electrical connection needed to be cleaned.

So, my suggestion is look at electrical stuff. In my experience if it is annoying and hard to find problem that does not always present itself, it's probably something electrical related.

Oh, and people are wrong, electrical issues don't all cause everything in the car electrical to die. For example that fuel relay would only affect the fuel pump. And whatever electrical connection that got cleaned also didn't cause my cars electrics to die.

 

[deadlast]

It has to be fuel. The electrical doesn't go out when it dies.

I agree. Either the engine is not getting air or fuel.

 

[Tigress]

I agree. Either the engine is not getting air or fuel.

If your fuel relay is going bad it will cause the pump to not work when the relay is misbehaving. There is also other electrical items that will cause issues like that and I believe bad spark plugs will make a car stutter but I believe usually if it is something like that it is more consistent and easy to find as spark plugs will look bad if they are bad.

 

[deadlast]

If your fuel relay is going bad it will cause the pump to not work when the relay is misbehaving. There is also other electrical items that will cause issues like that and I believe bad spark plugs will make a car stutter but I believe usually if it is something like that it is more consistent and easy to find as spark plugs will look bad if they are bad.

It could also be the distributor cap, or the spark plug cables. One or 2 spark plugs won't cause the engine to shut down which is why I think it is fuel. I'm interested to see where this goes.

 

[onadesertedisland]

Had a problem like this sort of, it was a dirty throttle body. Took it off, cleaned it, replaced it, no problems since and car runs way better.

 

[Poindexter]

The engine needs 3 things - air, spark and fuel. You'd get a code thrown for spark as a misfire most likely. A loss of compression and air would be much more severe and all the time. So I'd say fuel as well.

 

[daveo42]

Well I told the mechanic to look at the fuel pump and fuel filter. I will see what they say.

Those are the best two options at this point. Fuel pumps usually only show signs of replacement after warming up (or after 10-15mins of operation), though usually don't start working again until they cool down. Not sure if that's how they use to operate or if that is still the case, but I know that older cars would to actually cool off before starting again.

 

[zero shift]

The spark plugs were changed three years ago.

 

[zero shift]

Turns out the shop couldn't find anything wrong with it. Pissed me off but whatever. I drove it back home for thirty minutes.

The good news is that it didn't die once when it was stopped at a light and it was stopped a lot considering it was practically rush hour. The bad is that the car jerked 4 or 5 times during the drive.

One thing I noticed is that the car is more likely to jerk when it is warmer outside than when it is colder.

 

[diablos991]

The spark plugs were changed three years ago.

Were the wires changed as well?

Honestly it sounds like the car needs a general tune up:
Change air filter
Check MAF (mass airflow sensor)
Change plugs (check gap regardless of replacement)
Change wires
Clean/replace fuel filter
Clean/replace fuel injectors
Clean throttle body and intake manifold if necessary.

Once the air, gas, and ignition is all tuned up then it becomes easier to diagnose anything more unique.
Older cars need lots of TLC. Get used to this sort of thing.

 

[no angel]

By jerk do you mean a little stutter/judder? Could be a cylinder misfire so maybe carbon build up round the valves.?

 

[Giant Robot]

Do you remember at what speeds/rpm's the car jerks around?

 

[zero shift]

Do you remember at what speeds/rpm's the car jerks around?

It does it randomly. But I notice most of the time it does so when it is between 30 to 50 mph. It could just be coincidence as that is the speed my car goes 98% of the time. I also suspect it MAY do it when I just get my car moving after slowing down.

 

[TMC]

It does it randomly. But I notice most of the time it does so when it is between 30 to 50 mph. It could just be coincidence as that is the speed my car goes 98% of the time. I also suspect it MAY do it when I just get my car moving after slowing down.

Does it happen more frequently when you are accelerating?

 

[Baka Sempai]

It does it randomly. But I notice most of the time it does so when it is between 30 to 50 mph. It could just be coincidence as that is the speed my car goes 98% of the time. I also suspect it MAY do it when I just get my car moving after slowing down.

Is sounds like is definitely a gas related issue, since when you're going at those speeds the engine pulls more fuel than when you're idling.
You may even have some build-up on the gas line.
Play it safe and just change the filter. Is not that expensive.

 

[zero shift]

Does it happen more frequently when you are accelerating?

No.

Is sounds like is definitely a gas related issue, since when you're going at those speeds the engine pulls more fuel than when you're idling.
You may even have some build-up on the gas line.
Play it safe and just change the filter. Is not that expensive.

So to change the filter I just unscrew it and pull it out of the lines? Do I have to mess around with the fuses?

 

[diablos991]

No.



So to change the filter I just unscrew it and pull it out of the lines? Do I have to mess around with the fuses?

You will want to disconnect the negative terminal on the battery. Always do this when working around the wiring of a car.
If there is no wiring going to your filter, just take off the gas cap to depressurize the system.

 

[nabe_shogun]

As someone else already mentioned, you should have a general tune up done. New plugs, wires, air and fuel filter, ect.

BTW, is your check engine light on?
There's a lot of things it could be.

No.

So to change the filter I just unscrew it and pull it out of the lines? Do I have to mess around with the fuses?

Have a shop do it.

 

[SatansReverence]

This really could be a million different problems.

Anything from ignition issues such as failing coils, bad spark plug leads and dodgy fuel pump wiring.

To mechanical issues like failing fuel pump, blocked fuel filters or even a pinched fuel line

Even fuel pressure regulator/sensor issues.

 

[Septimus Prime]

By jerk do you mean a little stutter/judder? Could be a cylinder misfire so maybe carbon build up round the valves.?

It's rare, but a burnt valve could cause this. What's your mileage, OP?

 

[SatansReverence]

It's rare, but a burnt valve could cause this. What's your mileage, OP?

A buggered valve would cause a constant miss but the car would still work. Ive had a push rod fall out of an exhaust rocker and could still get the car to a mates workshop to fix it.

 

[djSyndrome]

Well I told the mechanic to look at the fuel pump and fuel filter. I will see what they say.

The fact that you're telling the mechanic what to look at means you need to find a new mechanic.

 

[Septimus Prime]

A buggered valve would cause a constant miss but the car would still work. Ive had a push rod fall out of an exhaust rocker and could still get the car to a mates workshop to fix it.

Yeah, but I meant the knocking/stuttering. It's so rare that some mechanics won't even think to look there.

 

[zero shift]

You will want to disconnect the negative terminal on the battery. Always do this when working around the wiring of a car.
If there is no wiring going to your filter, just take off the gas cap to depressurize the system.

Should I do both just in case?

It's rare, but a burnt valve could cause this. What's your mileage, OP?

160,000.

 

[clav]

This really could be a million different problems.

Anything from ignition issues such as failing coils, bad spark plug leads and dodgy fuel pump wiring.

To mechanical issues like failing fuel pump, blocked fuel filters or even a pinched fuel line

Even fuel pressure regulator/sensor issues.

Yeah. This.

Throw another suggestion in this million possibility scenario.

Check the throttle body and idle air control valve.

 

[zero shift]

So I found a video of how to change the fuel filter on my Ford Focus.

Do I have to follow every single step such as taking off the fuses and disconnecting the evaporative line?

Do I have to worry about tons of gas falling out when I take the fuel filter off? EDIT - Like will all of my car's gas fall out?

 

[zero shift]

Anybody?

 

[zero shift]

Some bad news guys. It turns out that I can't unscrew the bracket to the fuel filter with conventional tools.

To make things short, the fuel filter sits in between the gas tank and a wall of some sort (probably another car part). When I try to put a ratchet and socket in between this gap, it is little thick by a about a millimeter or two. I then decide to use wrench, but it just doesn't work because even if it fits there isn't an angle where I can rotate it far enough as the hump from the fuel filter and a wall to the right both block it. In short, I need to make my ratchet and socket be shorter combined length in order to properly take the bracket off. Any recommendations?

 

[chuckddd]

http://www.craftsman.com/craftsman-9-x-10mm-wrench-flat-ratchet-box/p-00942172000P

 

[zero shift]

http://www.craftsman.com/craftsman-9-x-10mm-wrench-flat-ratchet-box/p-00942172000P

That won't work as I won't have enough space to rotate it.

 

[daveo42]

Is the pump not secured by clips? Most Fords I've had used clips to attach the filter to the fuel line.

160,000.

Do you know when the last full tune up was done on the car? At that mileage with a domestic car (NA) it could be any number of issues either related to the fuel, engine, or electrical systems. I do think following up on the full pump/filter is a good start. Also check to see when the last time an actual tune up was done on the engine.

As for the shop not finding anything, are you taking it to the shop cold or immediately after it happens. I know the second option is kinda hard, but if it's not actively happening and not throwing up an error code, then they won't have any clue. Fuel pump issues almost always come when the car warms up and then go away after the car rests.

Sorry I had more insight for you on what to do, but there are places to at least start.

 

[zero shift]

Is the pump not secured by clips? Most Fords I've had used clips to attach the filter to the fuel line.

The pump is attached tot he clips but it is also in a bracket. I have to unscrew the bracket to get the fuel filter off. At least that is what the I assume.

EDIT - Wait, don't tell me I can take out the fuel filter itself while it is still in the bracket?

 

[SatansReverence]

Some bad news guys. It turns out that I can't unscrew the bracket to the fuel filter with conventional tools.

To make things short, the fuel filter sits in between the gas tank and a wall of some sort (probably another car part). When I try to put a ratchet and socket in between this gap, it is little thick by a about a millimeter or two. I then decide to use wrench, but it just doesn't work because even if it fits there isn't an angle where I can rotate it far enough as the hump from the fuel filter and a wall to the right both block it. In short, I need to make my ratchet and socket be shorter combined length in order to properly take the bracket off. Any recommendations?

Use a small breaker bar or smaller drive ratchet.

 

[zero shift]

So now taking off the fuel filter on my 2000 Ford Focus SE.

I'm at this part of the video.

I need to take the hose out, but I don't know how.

In the video the guy says "push and a twist" but that isn't really working for me. What am I doing wrong?

 

[SatansReverence]

Since the clips haven't been worked in some time, they will be quite sticky.

Also, people who do a lot of mechanic work have really strong fingers that make stuff like that look easy. Try using some kind of caliper.